I mentioned earlier in my article about the new Indian regional turboprop, that a potential market for the RTA-70, was the Northeast Shuttle. I didn’t really elaborate on the idea at that time, but I have now fully thought out the idea. Basically, the idea is to fly direct routes to and from secondary markets in the Northeast, eschewing traditional connecting hubs. O&;D traffic to the major business centers will be handled through secondary airports. The routes will be operated by 50-80 seat aircraft, with the hope of reducing congestion at major airports in the area (as spoken by Kate Hanni on the Cranky Flier). So, without further ado, here are the basics:
Service Area: The area bounded by Rochester to the north, Pittsburgh to the west, and Raleigh to the south.
Major Airports: bases with 20+ flights
Richmond- large O;D, close enough for southern DC suburbs
Raleigh-Durham- southern boundary of the shuttle, largest O&D airport on list
Harrisburg- Decent O&D and good location for a scissors hub
Atlantic City- Strong O&D and tourist market
Rochester- Major business city
Syracuse- College town with large population
Buffalo- fourth largest O&D airport on list, regional business hub
Manchester- minor gateway to Boston
Providence- third largest O&D airport, minor gateway to Boston
Hartford- 2nd largest O&D airport on list
Stewart International Airport- gateway to New York City
Portland Maine- north bound of the service region
Burlington- gateway to Vermont’s ski country
Piedmont Triad Airport(Greensboro)- large business town
Wilmington-New Castle- gateway to Philadelphia
Manassas Regional Airport- gateway to Washington DC
Martin State Airport- gateway to Baltimore/Washington DC
Allentown-secondary airport of Philadelphia
Erie-major business center
Albany- state capital of New York
Tweed New Haven: service for New Haven/Bridgeport
Allegheny County Airport- gateway to Pittsburgh
Norfolk/Newport News- major city in VA.
Route Network/Business Model : The network calls for at least one route daily between each of the airports above, with a larger proportion of flights operating between larger O&D centers. The carrier itself would be no frills, and needs to operate outside of the current carriers in the Northeast. On flight product would be minimal, with food and drinks purchased a-la-carte. The airports mentioned above, would be asked for an initial cut in fees, to build passenger base and offer as low fares as possible. It is suggested that the airline tie itself to one or more large carriers as feed providers…
Aircraft: The preferred aircraft is a turboprop with medium speed, and short runway requirements. The initial cost range should be 10-20 million dollars. Additionally, used aircraft of Dash 8 or ATR 72 can be used supplementarily to add capacity quickly. A regional jet would require extraordinary fuel efficiency to be considered. Aircraft would need a 1000 nautical mile range at maximum payload. By my calculations, the three possible aircraft are the Dash 8-Q400, ATR 72-500, and RTA70(future). Also possible is the ARJ-21(future), and Sukhoi Superjet (future).
found at www.x-plane.org/home/
Startup Capital: With new planes, the airline would require $80 million in startup cash+ credit line of $100 million, $50 million if starting with used aircraft.
Employees: For the airline to succeed, initial salaries would have to be low, therefore in today’s depressed job market, one can get workers at depressed rates. The workers would also have to have less benefits till the airline can get on its feet.
Summary: The Northeast Shuttle is a proven market with an estimated 20 million passengers of yearly demand(excluding the large airports) between said airports. With a low cost structure, ancillary revenues, and proper advertising, the airline could hit profitability in 2-3 years of operations. It would also serve to reduce congestion at the nation’s most crowded airports.